Something Surreal

In 1927, the late Elsa Schiaparelli founded her eponymous Italian fashion label, bringing surrealism and imaginative fashion to the mainstream. Pushing the boundaries of style, Schiaparelli challenged the norms of fashion. From her first handknit sweater with a trompe l’oeil bow motif to her collaboration with the Russian French writer Elsa Triolet to create the Aspirin Necklace, which used porcelain beads reminiscent of the pain-relieving tablets, the brand wittily merged art and fashion. And who could forget the 1937 Lobster Dress, created with artist Salvador Dalí, which melded bold colours, striking silhouettes and theatricality? Today, Catherine Ku is leading the brand’s expansion across Asia as Schiaparelli’s new regional brand manager. After graduating from the Cesar Ritz Colleges Switzerland hospitality school in 1996, Ku shifted gears to work in advertising, creating…